Brain Vander Lee is the latest victim of mindless violence by a violent cop. He was put in intensive care at a hospital in Minnesota after a Minneapolis SWAT team police officer sucker punched him in the face. Sgt. David Clifford (pictured above), a member of the Minneapolis SWAT team, attacked Vander Lee because he was talking too loud on his cell phone on the patio of a bar in Andover, Minnesota.

“He did a Superman punch,” Mike Archambault, a long-time friend of the victim, recalled. “Brian went back, feet up in the air, and the guy landed on top of him and his head bounced off the concrete.”

Vander Lee has undergone two brain surgeries for bleeding on his brain and remains in intensive care. If he lives, he will likely be traumitized for the remainder of his life.

Clifford eventually turned himself in. He is expected to be charged with third-degree assault.

“Sgt. Dave Clifford is the Executive Officer of the Minneapolis Police SWAT Unit. He’s a veteran of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and has served as team leader of Personal Security Detachments in both Kosovo and Iraq. He holds a B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota in International Relations. As a SWAT team member he’s participated in more than 350 high risk operations.”

Military “service” and his “tours of duty” have turned Clifford into a raging psychopath. Police Departments prefer to hire these “veterans” to deal with the public. The incident in Minnesota is the unfortunate result.

Citizens need to demand accountability from police. They also need to demand that soldiers who have “served” in war zones not be allowed to work as cops. Citizens are not Iraqi insurgents and should not be treated like prisoners at Abu Ghraib.